Exactly one week ago we witnessed a thumping performance of The Magpie Salute at the Bospop 2017 rock festival. The band, formed by former Black Crowes guitarist Rich Robinson last year, de facto is a reincarnation of The Black Crowes. At least so we thought. At Bospop they ‘covered’ much of the soulful blues classics coming from the Crowes. The only moment they stepped away from that was during the cover of The Velvet Underground’s ‘Oh! Sweet Nuthin’, which brought the audience to almost divine heights. The Magpie Salute performed their first concerts this January and were originally only scheduled to perform three concerts, but due to demand, they added news show and eventually decided to tour Europe as well.

According to Robinson The Magpie Salute is not only about playing the songs of old but also is about creating a new sound from their collective R&B, country and spiritual influences. Robinson also dares to take a step further by declaring that: “It’s [the music of The Magpie Salute] freedom, it’s love, it’s loss, it’s pure joy. It’s misery, it’s simultaneously arrogance and vulnerability. It is life.” For now the band is mostly a live outfit that aims to give their songs an improvisational twist during each gig. So what better way to celebrate the reunion with a live album full with covers.

The 10-piece album is all about pure rock and roll which clearly taps into the rootsy discography of The Black Crowes. The Magpies operate same level playing field as the Crowes once did. The sound is just as groovy and filled rock and blues, which isn’t too surprising because together with Robinson, other former The Black Crowes by name of Marc Ford and Sven Pipien stand in the band’s centre. This unmistakably makes the band sort of it’s own tribute band.

The Magpie Salute not only play live covers of own work as they mostly did on Bospop. On the album much of the tracks are true tributes to their own heroes. Among them are Bob Marley’s ‘Time Will Tell’ and Pink Floyd’s ‘Fearless’ as others like Bobby Hutcherson and The Faces made the cut. Especially on these tracks the band shows its versatility. Bob Marley’s mellow original for example is stretched out into an upbeat gospel melody whilst Pink Floyd’s classic from Meddle (1971) is transformed into a flourishing southern blues track.

The album’s most thick rock track comes from the hands of the 70s funk band War. On ‘War Drums’ the Hammond organ takes control and sets the standard for the 9 minutes of instrumental play. Solos of guitarist Robinson, Ford and Bereciartua sweep in one after the other. The track pumps in an exceptional blues-funk vibe which is impossible to resist when you’re on the dancefloor.

Two nods are made to the past of the core band. ‘Wiser Times’ and ‘What Is Home’ where pulled from the many live sets the band recorded in past year. The built-in chemistry formed during Crowes years comes into play. Here, all the new musicians have to do is to step into the warm bath of confidence. The album’s opening song is the only Magpie original which also was recorded in the studio. ‘Omission’ strongly reminds of the blues rock of the 90s and combines familiar unpolished bluesy guitars, warm organs, a raw soul voice singer who is backed up by some great background singing. Here The Magpie Salute stride forward fast, hopefully hammering in a precedent for the near future.

Admittedly, this The Magpie Salute debut doesn’t differ much from what we have heard about 30 years ago. But we’re not that sour-faced of course so that being said, I believe Robinson and his fellow band members don’t want to turn into a different direction at all. Instead they want to build upon the ashes of a noteworthy legacy. Rooted in the Crowes, Shake Your Money Maker (1990) and The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion (1992), The Magpie Salute manages to rise up like a phoenix. From its foundations the powerhouse of towering southern blues rock is regenerated is and here to stay for generations to come.

]]>https://soundsfromthedarkside.com/2017/07/15/the-magpie-salute-the-magpie-salute/feed/0voredhelionGuns N’ Roses – Not In This Lifetime Tour 2017, Goffertpark Nijmegenhttps://soundsfromthedarkside.com/2017/07/13/guns-n-roses-not-in-this-lifetime-tour-2017-goffertpark-nijmegen/
https://soundsfromthedarkside.com/2017/07/13/guns-n-roses-not-in-this-lifetime-tour-2017-goffertpark-nijmegen/#respondThu, 13 Jul 2017 11:38:48 +0000http://soundsfromthedarkside.com/?p=5166Continue reading →]]>Axl Rose is back, and so are Duff McKagan and Slash for a rock ‘n roll reunion everybody hoped for but no-one expected. Not in this lifetime, at least. We were there in Nijmegen.

Guns N’ Roses must be the world’s most expensive coverband. Out of the thirty-two songs played in Nijmegen’s Goffertpark, nine are cover material, making up for about an hour of the extensive three hour long set. It’s not like Guns don’t have original material to spare (where, for example, is their hit song Don’t Cry tonight?). Of course, you could ask the 65.000 attendees tonight and most of them would probably accredit Live and Let Die (Wings) or Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan) to the band. In the end it does not matter much, since they do it so well. There are bands that play covers, and there are bands that make that material their own. GnR falls well into the latter category.

Dubbed the Not In This Lifetime Tour, which was their go-to answer to the question if the band (read: Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan) would ever reunite, the tour has catapulted Axl and his gang right back to rock superstardom, raking them in over 200 million dollars thus far. With 65.000 people attending in Nijmegen and the cheapest tickets going for €85 a piece, you can see how that happened. “This had better be one hell of a show,” was my thought. It was.

Fashionably late rather than delayed for hours, the band enters the stage just past seven thirty and launch right into It’s So Easy and Mr. Brownstone, immediately setting the tone for the night. This is the Guns N’ Roses you grew up with and sonically, they haven’t aged one bit. Axl has trained himself mostly back into shape, and whilst he does less running about than he used to, he still showcases an impressive set of pipes, hitting most if not all of the high notes. The evening’s first surprise comes in the form of Chinese Democracy, the title track of GnR’s post break-up album (which I maintain is a fine but overproduced album that’s unfairly maligned mostly because of the politics surrounding it). It’s a song which slots in nicely between the rest of the material, and sounds a bit better for Slash handling the guitar. It’s also definitely not a song most people came here to hear, so the onslaught continues with a furious rendition of Welcome to the Jungle and Double Talkin’ Jive before diving back into Chinese Democracy with a more than adequate version of Better.

One of my personal favourites of the evening is the following Estranged, the epic from Use Your Illusion II, and it sounds just as masterful live on stage as in the studio. The long, sweeping guitar parts and the constant tempo changes make this song into a goosebump-inducing highlight in an already splendid concert. Following are Live and Let Die and Rocket Queen before the guys and girl tear into You Could Be Mine, making the eleven year old kid in me who desperately wanted to see Terminator 2 because of the accompanying video clip very happy. Duff McKagan then gets his solo spot with New Rose (by The Damned) before we get the third cut from Chinese Democracy with This I Love.

The second big surprise happens right after Civil War when AC/DC’s Angus Young joins the stage for Whole Lotta Rosie (incidentally getting the biggest round of applause so far tonight) and Riff Raff (“This one’s for the die-hards,” Axl quips. “So, this one’s for us.”). Those who have seen Rose at work with the Australian boogie rock band after vocalist Brian Johnson was forced to step down due to hearing problems know how well he performs the classic Bon Scott songs, and the guys, Rose first and foremost, are obviously having a blast here tearing through these classic songs. After all this unbelievably tight rock ‘n roll, the somewhat chaotic version of Coma is a bit of a letdown, after which Slash’s solo spot (of course including Speak Softly Love from The Godfather) takes the speed out of the concert for a bit. Even Sweet Child O’ Mine can’t properly kickstart the gig back into gear, and Used to Love Her and Yesterdays continue the relative lull before the band rip through Out Ta Get Me with a ferocity you’d expect after the few more poppy tracks that came before.

Another highlight should have been November Rain (preluded by an instrumental version of Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here where Slash and Richard Fortus duel with each other). But November Rain tonight sounds hasty and a bit off, and the band sounds as if they’re working their way through the song without their heart being in it. Especially the instrumental apotheosis disappoints. Then it’s time for two more covers, namely Soundgarden’s Black Hole Sun (which doesn’t really work quite as well with Axl belting out the chorus in too shrill a voice) and Dylan’s evergreen Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door, where a huge part is drawn-out to facilitate some audience participation time. A punched up version of Nightrain ends the first portion of the concert.

All around people are clamoring for Paradise City, but Axl decides to test the audience a bit further by starting off the encores with Sorry (from Chinese Democracy) and the god-awful, lazy Patience. The concert is rounded off in style with My Michelle, another cover (The Seeker by The Who this time) and, finally, Paradise City, accompanied by firework during the frantic closing minutes before the band takes their final bow and a crammed 65.000 people try to leave the field all at once.

Guns N’ Roses is hardly the sleazy, dangerous rock ‘n roll band they used to be back in the day, but tonight definitely proved that they still have the chops to deliver a fun evening full of classic material, surprises and covers. With both Axl Rose and the band in fine form, it’s a shame that the concert sags a bit in the middle, but perhaps that’s attributable to the length of the thing. Half an hour of musical interludes and cover songs trimmed off would perhaps have made a better concert. One thing’s certain though: Guns N’ Roses “aten’t ded yet,” and I’m quite curious as to how (or even if) this journey will continue from here.

]]>https://soundsfromthedarkside.com/2017/07/13/guns-n-roses-not-in-this-lifetime-tour-2017-goffertpark-nijmegen/feed/0ralphplugNot in this lifetime20170712_21063120170712_22002420170712_230142Sounds from the Dark Side top albums of 2017 (until now)https://soundsfromthedarkside.com/2017/06/30/sounds-from-the-dark-side-top-albums-of-2017-until-now/
https://soundsfromthedarkside.com/2017/06/30/sounds-from-the-dark-side-top-albums-of-2017-until-now/#respondFri, 30 Jun 2017 12:12:19 +0000http://soundsfromthedarkside.com/?p=5152Continue reading →]]>

Time flies when you’re having fun so let’s saw 2017 into half…

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Amy Macdonald – Under Stars

The year started out with what might be Amy Macdonald’s best and most mature album so far. Under Stars shows the Scottish singer/songwriter has all grown up and is relevant far beyond This Is The Life. (RP – SftDS review).

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Ryan Adams – Prisoner

Prisoner was an unexpectedly good album fueled by Adams’divorce from singer Mandy Moore. The album has a nice pace and flows along very naturally. Don’t worry about us Ryan, we still love you(WRM).
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Avatarium – Hurricanes and HalosWith Hurricanes and Halos, Avatarium moves further away still from Leif Edling’s Candlemass-infused doom roots and sounds tighter and more convinced than ever(RP). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Necks – Unfold

Balancing on the verges of jazz, avant-garde rock and classical The Necks take you down a very deep rabbit hole. Unfold is a perfect album to get lost in, and only ends when you feel that the end is there. (WRM – SftDS review).
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Ex Deo – The Immortal Wars

Early this year Ex Deo returned to the fray to deliver a concept album about the exploits of Hannibal. Not the one from The A-Team or the beloved cannibal, but the Elephant Man. Or something. An unbelievably tight death metal record straight out of Ancient Rome. (RP – SftDS review).

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Scott H. Biram – The Bad Testament

The Bad Testament is a songbook made of a lifetime of bad decisions. Outlaw blues and brutally honest lyrics FTW, so you better believe it Roger Waters! (WRM – SftDS review).~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Roger Waters – Is This The Life We Really Want?

I’ve no idea if this is the life I really want, but Roger Waters’ new album has been a long time in the making and does not disappoint yet. A very strong contender to top the list at the end of this year. (RP – SftDS review).

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Thundercat – Drunk

Goofy R&B fusion that comes in pints. Thats enough reason to get one right? It’s nice enough to put on as background music but is far more enjoyable when you’re able to understand Bruner’s honesty and heartache as dark humor (WRM – SftDS review).
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Deep Purple – Infinite

Deep Purple is saying goodbye with a presumably last tour and album, and there are far worse ways to close off a career than with an album as strong as Infinite. A fine classic rock album and one of the better ones from latter day Purple(RP – SftDS review).
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Arca – Arca

Arca’s search for some form of identity is intriguing. At times it is bombastic but it also comes to a standstill at the right moments. It’s punishing, yet beautiful. (WRM – SftDS review).

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That’s it for now boys and girls. Be sure to check in every now and then and enjoy your summer holidays.

]]>https://soundsfromthedarkside.com/2017/06/30/sounds-from-the-dark-side-top-albums-of-2017-until-now/feed/0voredhelionthe_dark_side_of_the_moon toplist 2014Arca – Arcahttps://soundsfromthedarkside.com/2017/06/29/arca-arca/
https://soundsfromthedarkside.com/2017/06/29/arca-arca/#commentsThu, 29 Jun 2017 08:56:43 +0000http://soundsfromthedarkside.com/?p=5144Continue reading →]]>Arca commanded me to sit down and listen the other day. You should do the same if you’re up for something fascinating.

The Venezuelan-born Alejandro Ghersi, a.k.a. Arca, is mostly known for his songwriting and production work for today’s greats. Arca significantly contributed to Kanye West’s Yeezus, FKA Twigs’ EP2 and Björk’s ninth studio album Vulnicura. His solo albums Xen (2014) and Mutant (2015) were positively received in the snobby avant garde scene. So if the snobs are on the something why should be left behind.

Of course Arca’s music is not only for the few, but understanding him can be quite difficult for the many. Just like with Ensemble Dal Niente or The Necks: you have find a comfortable spot somewhere to create a bubble and take it all in from that point. If you don’t have that kind of patience Arca’s self-titled third full abum, or let alone all of his work, simply isn’t for you. Arca’s music is strange and tense. When compared to this previous work this third album is more vocal. Ghersi now sings in his native Spanish language so he can let his emotions rein free. Also the lament operatic vocals that come into play now and then are beset with bombastic walls of sound giving all an uneasy feeling of an artist that is aimlessly wandering around. This search is what it is all about. It’s punishing, yet beautiful.

On his debut on XL recordings Ghersi throws in 13 tracks that alternate between calm intimacy and strong expressions of mental suffering. Especially ‘Saunter’, ‘Urchin’, ‘Reverie’ and ‘Castration’ on the first half of the album are configured with some blunt Autechre-like IDM. In parts where Ghersi sings he pulls listeners into a distorted world where sparks of beauty are still to be found. On the single ‘Anoche’, the album’s second track, Ghersi shows himself from his most transparent side. Here he remodels Venezuelan folk into a downhearted ballad, tragically singing with lightly lingering instrumentals on the background.

On the second half of the album Ghersi tones down the bombastics and in contrast comes to rest with a few relatively quiet, distant ballads. ‘Sin Rumbo’ and ‘Coraje’ are simple of nature. On the latter Ghersi searches for the right notes. Sometimes he hits the low ones and sometimes the high ones, whispering in between until he eventually fades away. Another interesting track on the second half of the album is ‘Desafío’. Here he pays tribute to his own history as songwriter. ‘Desafío’ contains a warm kaleidoscope of sound with a catchy chorus in its core. Throughout Arca this probably is the only track that really keeps you at an arm’s length.

Arca often balances on the thin line of grotesqueness. At times the music cracks open only to ease down again seconds later. Although I expect Arca to be mostly appreciated by the high culture elites Ghersi’s music stands for a much broader part of society who are in search for some form of identity. Arca is about the struggle to fill up empty places within. There is always a meaning to be found but it doesn’t always makes sense.

]]>https://soundsfromthedarkside.com/2017/06/29/arca-arca/feed/1voredhelionRoger Waters – Is This The Life We Really Want?https://soundsfromthedarkside.com/2017/06/13/roger-waters-is-this-the-life-we-really-want/
https://soundsfromthedarkside.com/2017/06/13/roger-waters-is-this-the-life-we-really-want/#commentsTue, 13 Jun 2017 13:22:29 +0000http://soundsfromthedarkside.com/?p=5119Continue reading →]]>Roger Waters has released his first new album in ages, and after a week and a half we’re finally able to ramble something moderately coherent about it. Here goes.

It’s a busy year for fans of Pink Floyd. David Gilmour will release his Live at Pompeii concert film later this year, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London is the stage for Their Mortal Remains, a huge Floyd exhibition and Roger Waters, in addition to embarking on his Us + Them tour finally releases his first body of studio work in 25 years (not counting his opera Ça Ira) with Is This The Life We Really Want? Produced by Nigel Godrich (known foremost for his work with Radiohead), it is also the most Pink Floyd thing Waters has done since that band’s The Final Cut, and certainly worth the long wait.

At 73, Roger Waters hasn’t changed much from the angry young man who wrote Animals or The Final Cut. He even says so on the intro When We Were Young. “I’m still ugly. You’re still fat. I’ve still got spots. I’m still afraid,” he says over the sound of clocks ticking. You half expect them to go off at any moment and launch into The Dark Side of the Moon’s Time. But they don’t, and the album begins proper with Déjà Vu instead, a song previously live tested as If I Were God. In it Roger, angry as always, asks himself if he’d do a better job if he’d been God. In the same song, he also wonders how he’d feel if he were a drone. “The bankers get fat. The buffalo’s gone,” he seethes. It’s classic Waters, full of vitriol and completely devoid of any subtlety. Business as usual.

The production, right from the off, is incredibly lush. The arrangements on a song like Déjà Vu are something else, restrained and never in your face, meant to enhance the material where needed. The orchestral flourishes are subtle and stylish without being in your face about it. Most of the songs exude a certain air of danger, a sense of menace you haven’t heard in any Floyd related material, including Waters’ own solo work, since The Final Cut. It’s also very typically Floyd in that there is an abundance of sounds plastered all over the album. From old BBC broadcasts to people muttering in the background, the aforementioned clocks, disconnecting phones, barking dogs in Smell the Roses, it’s an album undeniably steeped in Pink Floyd-ness. It’s artsy in the same way The Dark Side of the Moon was artsy. It’s not as good an album as Dark Side, but no-one will be surprised to hear that. There are melodies, little musical flurries that return all over the album, and the way it starts with Déjà Vu and ends almost with the same fashion with Part of Me Died is a thing of beauty.

The lyrics are as vitriolic as you would expect from an album bearing the concept of “handing mankind a very bad report card.” The delivery is suitably acerbic, as Waters shouts, seethes and hisses through his teeth about nincompoops becoming presidents (take a guess who he means there), journalists left to rot in jail, social media, war and terror. “Picture a leader with no fucking brains” he bites on Picture That. Waters sounds menacing, and so does the music. There is an undertone on Is This The Life We Really Want? that makes this album as potentially uncomfortable as The Final Cut or The Wall. There is an edge here that lacked on the later Floyd albums and most of Waters’ own solo work, including most of Amused to Death. It’s Waters at his most topical and arguable best, and he invited us to think.

If there’s one valid criticism one could lob at Is This The Life We Really Want?, it would be Waters’ and Godrich’s tendency to draw too heavy on nostalgia at times. The material is so full of callbacks to older, classic songs that you can’t help, for example, to find yourself listening to one song and humming into an old Floyd song next. There are lyrics from other songs you subconsciously want to place at certain points. There are hints of classic Floyd all over this album, and sometimes you can pinpoint exactly what something reminds you of. There’s a bit of Mother here, a callback to Dogs there, and Picture That is one big amalgamation of One Of These Days and Welcome to the Machine. It doesn’t matter much since the end result is the most seventies Floyd album we’ve possibly had since the seventies, but if someone would argue that a lot of it sounds sort of same-y, I would be the last to disagree.

Small niggles aside, this is one of the better classic rock albums, and perhaps the most topical one, of the year. It’s old-fashioned without sounding so, it’s classic without sounding archaic and it’s deliciously reminiscent of what made Waters are Pink Floyd so good. The only thing you will miss on this record are the great guitar solos and the drawn-out keyboard spots. Other than that it’s a must-have album for the fan of seventies era Floyd, and a wholeheartedly recommended one for classic rock fans in general.

]]>https://soundsfromthedarkside.com/2017/06/13/roger-waters-is-this-the-life-we-really-want/feed/1ralphplugRoger Waters - Is This the Life We Really WantDeep Purple – Infinitehttps://soundsfromthedarkside.com/2017/05/31/deep-purple-infinite/
https://soundsfromthedarkside.com/2017/05/31/deep-purple-infinite/#commentsWed, 31 May 2017 13:24:53 +0000http://soundsfromthedarkside.com/?p=5103Continue reading →]]>With Infinite, Deep Purple releases their twentieth and likely last album before embarking on an extensive farewell tour. We take a look.

One after another, the legendary rock bands of yesteryear are dying off, with either advanced age or death as the reason. Well past retirement age, it’s a small miracle Deep Purple is still here at all, with a plethora of lineup changes in the past. Still, they’ve kept on truckin’ since 1968, and 2013’s Now What?! album was arguably their best since 1984’s Perfect Strangers. Produced by Bob Ezrin, it was a tight collection of perfectly good rock songs, playing on the strengths of the individual band members. For Infinite, the band once again headed into the studio with Ezrin at the helm, and the result is an album that might very well be a little bit better yet.

It’s a shame then that Infinite is being touted as being Purple’s last album. Of course, we could have seen it coming, with the average age of these guys creeping up to seventy, but it’s a bitter pill all the same. Especially with Infinite being as good as it is. Opener – and first single – Time for Bedlam is a right kick in the teeth in that respect. A heavy rocker with great riffing, a good solo spot for Steve Morse and a searing Hammond organ courtesy of Don Airey. Deep Purple is back, and even if this turns out to be for one last round, it shows the old dog has some spirit left in it still.

Time for Bedlam also sets the tone for an album that is both more varied and more coherent than Now What?! Now, if that sounds paradoxical, it’s because it is. But the ten songs on Infinite gel a little better together than the songs on its predecessor, and after the first few spins it feels like a stronger album for it. Bedlam segues into the bluesy Hip Boots, delivering a funky blues rock latter-day Purple seems to enjoy and do well. Following that is classic rocker All I Got Is You, and that’s about the way the rest of the album goes. Heavier, rocking tracks are followed by more spontaneous sounding, lighter fare, and it makes for a more versatile album, always trying and succeeding in keeping you interested.

The undeniable stars of Infinite are Don Airey on keyboards and Steve Morse, draping the songs with one sweet guitar lick or solo after the other. The weakest link, once again, is Ian Gillan, who is more and more getting the tendency of half-talking his way through otherwise perfectly fine material and sounding like he just does not care anymore. Yes, the man is 71, but there is zero conviction in his voice for most of the record and he frankly sounds like he phoned the bulk of the material in. Good case in point here is the rather superfluous The Doors cover Roadhouse Blues. A fine song on its own, even if this isn’t the best version of it I’ve ever heard, but Gillan manages to take a fine, fun song and turn it into a boring slog by talking his way through it rather than singing and sounding like he’d rather be somewhere else doing something else.

Still, niggles aside, there’s much to enjoy on Infinite, and the good definitely outweighs the bad by miles. And luckily, Gillan’s vocals are serviceable most of the time. Johnny’s Band is a fun song, Get Me Outta Here has some quite heavy riffing and Birds of Prey is one of the best songs Purple has written this side of Perfect Strangers. And when Ian Gillan suddenly decides to give a fuck about what he’s doing, you can hear a glimpse of the powerhouse vocalist he was back in the seventies. Pare that with some truly standout songs and you’ve still got yourself a killer album. That’s why it’s such a shame that this is very likely the last studio album these guys ever put out. Infinite sports some standout material and one can only imagine what a third round in the studio with Ezrin could bring forth. Mandatory album for fans of quality classic rock, and you will be able to catch the band live on their The Long Goodbye tour.

Antibalas’Marcos Garcia takes up the experiment to mix up heavy acid rock with afrobeat. In this newly created outfit Garcia brings together fuzzed guitars riffs, organs and complex polyrhythms. The result Here Lies Man delivers is appealing and could even get your feet shuffling and your head bobbing.

The opening track ‘When I Come To’ is the perfect example of what Here Lies Man has to offer in the 30 minutes the album spans. It’s fuzzed up riffs, beats and minimal lyrics are demandingly hypnotizing. The sonic wall is deepened by the excellent drum work of Geoff Mann who in fact lures you in further and further until to moment you realize you already progressed to the fourth track or so. For me the ripping guitar and upbeat ‘You Ain’t Going Nowhere’ brought me out a trance. For a brief moment, that is.

‘Letting Go’ gears up the pace a bit further and pounds in woozy synths which are combined with some great acid funk. It’s like the Meridian Brothers meeting Fela Kuti and Deep Purple. ‘So Far Away’ serves as the album’s resting point. Here the tempo is slowed down by the band but they also kick in a killing distorted guitar riff which cuts through an enchanting polygonic mist. Here Lies Man picks up the hefty percussion on ‘Belt of the Sun’ and the closing title track. Both tracks are full of tribal beats, sloganeering vocals and dirty edged organs and guitars which will undoubtedly leave you out of breath after the last seconds of the album tick away.

At times Here Lies Man can become a drag. The riffs are very much up front and only thrive on repetitiveness. The 8 tracks therefore sound similar to each other. Only ‘So Far Away’ sounds somewhat different. Nevertheless the stylistic choices bring a nice buzz of intensity. It’s catchy and refreshing take on the classic forms of afrobeat and hard rock that works well, …especially on those hot summer festival nights. Label: RidingEasy, 2017

]]>https://soundsfromthedarkside.com/2017/05/29/here-lies-man-here-lies-man/feed/0voredhelionEx Deo – The Immortal Warshttps://soundsfromthedarkside.com/2017/04/25/ex-deo-the-immortal-wars/
https://soundsfromthedarkside.com/2017/04/25/ex-deo-the-immortal-wars/#commentsTue, 25 Apr 2017 06:46:07 +0000http://soundsfromthedarkside.com/?p=5078Continue reading →]]>Ex Deo returns to the fray after a temporary hiatus with their third effort, The Immortal Wars to show the world how to properly Roman-up your metal. Let’s take a look.

Hannibal. Everybody knows the story of Hannibal. Of how he and his men were court-martialed for a crime they didn’t commit escaped from military prison and started working as soldiers of fortune. I’m quite sure there were elephants involved at some point as well. Anyway, newly resurrected Roman-themed metal band Ex Deo decided to dedicate an entire concept album to the man, and it’s great. They should have called it The A-Team though, but I guess The Immortal Wars suffices too.

When the band officially disbanded a few years ago, I was sad about it. I quite enjoyed the two albums they released (2009’s Romulus and 2012’s Caligvla), and there was something quite affable about the cheesy pompousness of those two outings. There’s something cool about and Roman Empire and Maurizio Iacono (Kataklysm) mined that for every penny it’s worth. Lucky for me, Iacono decided to breath new life into Ex Deo late last year, and we get to enjoy the third album, The Immortal Wars, a concept album about the Carthaginian general Hannibal.

With a running time of thirty-eight minutes, The Immortal Wars is a relatively short but sweet experience. There is no filler material on here, and each of the eight songs (including the instrumental intermezzo Suavetuarilia) packs a punch. Furthermore, clocking in at about five minutes on average, these are very bite-sized chunks of heavy metal. Over the course of The Immortal Wars the pace is firmly set in marching tempo, as you’d sort of expect from a Roman-themed band. It’s an album filled with sturdy riffing, over which Maurizio Iacono bellows his marching orders.

Ex Deo’s third album is a concept album for people who have a disdain for concept albums. You’d never guess it was one if you didn’t know. There are little sonic reminders that yes, this is an album about warfare and elephants, and in between the songs there are trampling noises, animal sounds and elephantine trumpeting, but these things never get in the way of The Immortal Wars being a fun metal album first and foremost. It’s an epic one too, more than the first two. Especially the digital orchestration is dialed up to eleven here, giving a more bombastic feel to most of the tracks.

As said, at thirty-eight minutes this is a very lean album, but it never feels short. Just shy of the forty minute mark, The Immortal Wars feels just right in length, and never sags when it comes to quality. It’s a fun album for those who enjoy their death metal melodic, bombastic and slightly cheesy. Very recommended.

]]>https://soundsfromthedarkside.com/2017/04/25/ex-deo-the-immortal-wars/feed/1ralphplugEx Deo - The Immortal WarsScott H. Biram – The Bad Testamenthttps://soundsfromthedarkside.com/2017/04/17/scott-h-biram-the-bad-testament/
https://soundsfromthedarkside.com/2017/04/17/scott-h-biram-the-bad-testament/#commentsMon, 17 Apr 2017 09:34:25 +0000http://soundsfromthedarkside.com/?p=5066Continue reading →]]>Scott H. Biram is the “Dirty Ol’ One Man Band” of blues punk who has been releasing albums since 2000. In the past years he’s been rampaging around like he’s being possessed by an (un)holy spirit and has no intentions of quitting. On The Bad Testament the Texan folk troubadour continuous to examine his own tortured soul.

The Bad Testament pushes blues and country into extremes. It’s about sin and redemption, love gone wrong and all the drinking that comes along with that. Biram’s lo-fi setup together with his raw voice evokes feeling of world weariness. On the album’s opener ‘Set Me Free’ he sings about all kinds of misery while he begs for redemption. Yet, later on he doesn’t seem to follow up on his prayers. On the track ‘Righteous Ways’, Biram is too busy drinking, gambling and feeling sorry for himself. He states that there simply is no time for righteous ways. Yep, Biram is constantly at war with himself between good and evil.

On the other eleven tracks of the 40 minute album Biram touches various forms of outlaw blues and combines it with brutally honest lyrics. Sometimes takes a soft stance like on the minimalist gospel of ‘True Religion’ or the lovesick ‘Red Wine’. In other cases he just wants to kick ass, like on the traditional outlined country jangle called ‘Swift Driftin’, the punk trash blues of ‘TrainWrecker’ or the minute-and-a-half ‘Hit the River’. Biram mixes up blues, folk and punk rock with ease but never forgets his roots. On ‘Long Old Time’ (here he sounds like a full band) and ‘Feels So Wrong’ the blues is flawlessly executed.

Biram raw-sloppy style are shoutouts to long forgotten and the celebrated heroes of blues. Hank Williams, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf meet Sex Pistols and The White Stripes on The Bad Testament. United in Scott H. Biram the spirit of blues is resurrected in 2017 while at the same time the good man also questions the faith and beliefs of mankind.

The Bad Testament is more than a solid sounding work of contemporary blues but also is a songbook made of a lifetime of bad decisions. Biram travels through some of the darkest days of human life but lugubrious sings on ‘Still Around’ that he’s here to stay forever, so you better believe it.

]]>https://soundsfromthedarkside.com/2017/04/17/scott-h-biram-the-bad-testament/feed/1voredhelionShinigami – The Arcane Orderhttps://soundsfromthedarkside.com/2017/03/31/shinigami-the-arcane-order/
https://soundsfromthedarkside.com/2017/03/31/shinigami-the-arcane-order/#respondFri, 31 Mar 2017 14:46:36 +0000http://soundsfromthedarkside.com/?p=5053Continue reading →]]>Dutch metal band Shinigami just released their debut EP, and it’s a good one for fans of tight death and thrash metal. Here’s our review.

Shinigami (meaning “god of death” or “death spirit” in Japanese) is a brand new death metal band from the Netherlands, consisting of (ex) members of, amongst others, Bleeding Gods, Divine Sins and Mayan, and they have just unleashed their first EP onto the world. Counting six songs, there not an ounce of fat left to cut, resulting in an incredibly lean effort. Stylistically, these guys move somewhere between thrash and death metal, never exclusively adhering to one style.

If there’s two words to describe the metallic onslaught on The Arcane Order, those are “fast” and “furious”. The band presses the pedal to the metal from the get-go and keeps on speeding right until the end. From the opener Ronin onwards, this is a relentless metal assault that keeps on going for twenty-four minutes. Well, almost. 雨夜 is a really beautiful, oriental sounding instrumental piece that breaks up the frenetic pace a little, before launching into Defiance (the arguable highlight of this EP). It’s the type of stuff you’d somehow expect more from a band flirting this much with Japanese culture.

There’s bits of old Metallica in here, a hint of Testament and a decent amount of groove to be found in the individual songs. Add to that just a dash of metalcore and you get the gist of The Arcane Order’s six tracks. None of them overstay their welcome, with Defiance being the longest track clocking in at 5:19, with the other five songs firmly between the three and four minute mark. Again, that’s very lean. The songs are also varied enough for The Arcane Order to stay interesting throughout its entire twenty-four minute runtime.

I came away impressed by what these guys are doing on their first effort, and am quite curious where Shinigami’s journey will head from here. A strong debut and very recommended.